Sorrento fine diner Audrey’s and boundary-pushing Latin American restaurant Morena might have shut, but their respective teams are cooking up new dining concepts that are more suited to repeat business.
First, the bad news: two of Victoria’s hatted restaurants have closed. Scott Pickett’s Sorrento fine diner Audrey’s had its final service in July under the guise of closing for renovations, while Alejandro Saravia’s pioneering Latin American diner Morena shut this month, after just a year in the CBD.
The good news? These operators are enlivening both sites with new concepts designed for more casual dining, and Saravia says he’s looking for a new home for Morena.
Audrey’s, the jewel in the crown of the Continental Sorrento’s multimillion-dollar redevelopment, had more than three years of success at the tip of the Mornington Peninsula, including a string of Good Food hats. Its menu was as extravagant as the fit-out, but longevity posed an issue.
“Audrey’s established itself as a special-occasion destination with a predominantly seafood-focused menu that naturally drew crowds during the summer months,” says chef Pickett (Matilda, Smith St Bistro et al.).
“It was … a decadent and lengthy experience, which isn’t always what people want.”
In line with the Conti’s 150th anniversary, Pickett is reimagining the upstairs space as Ember, a more versatile restaurant that he says is “designed to be a year-round destination where people can return time and again, regardless of the season”.
With original limestone and impressive Port Phillip Bay views, the room will remain more or less the same. But the food will change, with chef Jake Furst (of Fitzroy North steakhouse Cinder) leading Ember’s day-to-day operations. Dry-aged steaks and seafood dishes will be a focus, many cooked over a Josper charcoal grill that is being installed.
Pickett will continue in his role of leading food and beverage direction across the precinct.
Ember opens in November.
1/21 Ocean Beach Road, Sorrento, thecontinentalsorrento.com.au
When The Age’s chief restaurant critic, Besha Rodell, reviewed Morena in March, awarding it a Good Food chef’s hat for its fresh interpretation of Latin American cuisine, she noted that it wasn’t the cooking or the service that was lacking, it was the customers.
Soon, the Little Collins Street restaurant will relocate to a “more suitable” but yet-to-be-disclosed location.
Executive chef Alejandro Saravia says that will allow the venue to move away from the compulsory tasting menu, providing a “more inclusive and approachable” a la carte experience akin to what’s on offer atMorena’s same-named sibling in Sydney.
The restaurants are part of the Renascence Group, which also includes Farmer’s Daughters and Barra, Morena’s more casual next-door sibling.
While Barra is staying put on Little Collins Street, the original Morena site will become Farmer’s Daughters Wine House, a wine bar and bottle shop that champions all things Victorian. There’ll be artisan smallgoods and small plates including stracciatella cheese with leeks, plus weekly specials including a $23 burger starring Gippsland grass-fed beef, and $25 counter meals. A locally charged wine list includes two dozen by the glass.
Saravia indicated that the next site for Morena will still be in central Melbourne.
“We strongly believe in the potential our city has and [are] still betting on a dynamic and active Melbourne CBD that should be open all day, every day,” he says.
Farmer’s Daughters Wine House opens on October 15.
71 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, farmersdaughters.com.au/wine-house
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Emma Breheny – Emma is Good Food’s Melbourne eating out and restaurant editor and editor of The Age Good Food Guide.
